1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to devices for lifting internal combuston engines from vehicles such as automobiles and trucks, or from watercraft such as boats or barges. More particularly, the present invention is related to a tool for attaching to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine for lifting the internal combustion engine from the vehicle or boat in which the engine is located.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Difficulty has long been encountered in removing internal combustion engines from such vehicles as cars and trucks, or from a boat. Commonly, when using a chain hoist or other hoisting device to remove an engine from a vehicle or boat, more than one person is required to steady and guide the engine as it is being lifted from the vehicle or boat. Engines are sometimes damaged while being hoisted and also damage is sometimes done to the vehicle or boat from which the engine is being removed. It is quite common for an engine being hoisted to tilt to one side or the other, or to the front or back, as soon as the engine begins to rise from the vehicle or boat in which it was mounted. At small engine repair shops where only one or two employees are working, it is time consuming and often quite difficult to remove an engine from a vehicle or boat.
Various devices have been disclosed in the prior art to attach to an engine to facilitate removal of the engine from a boat or vehicle in which the engine is mounted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,903 discloses an engine lifting tool which includes a yoke member having inverted "U"-shaped bails or lift members supported on opposite ends thereof. The respective undersides of the bail members are provided with a plurality of notches which engage the yoke member to hold the bails in adjusted transverse position relative to the yoke member and a lifting ring encircles the yoke member and is movable longitudinally thereof for engagement with a plurality of notches provided along its underside. The lifting ring can be moved from one notch to another to balance the engine to accommodate engines having different weight distributions. The yoke members, bale members, and lifting rings are constructed so as to be inseparable one from the other. Such a device has four separate parts and must be adjusted to accommodate the device to various types of engines. Furthermore, if the device should fail there are no safety chains or other apparatus to prevent the engine from falling to the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,633 discloses a swivel mounted lifting eye adapted to be attached to an engine block or a cylinder head by a single bolt. The lifting eye includes a pair of annular members having hub portions disposed in back to back relationship to define an annular groove on the periphery of axially spaced base portions thereof. A ring member is rotatably mounted in the groove and a "U"-shaped lifting eye is pivotally mounted on a pair of projections secured to a ring member and extending radially outwardly therefrom. There is no provision for balancing the engine nor is their any provision to prevent the engine from twisting or moving when it is lifted from the vehicle or boat on which it is mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,751,097 discloses an adjustable engine lifting tool having a threaded shaft rotatably mounted at the top of the tool for adjusting the engine angle to clear motor mounts or align the engine to the transmission. The lifting tool includes a horizontal mounting plate for connecting the tool to the engine, the mounting plate being connectable to studs on which an engine part such as a carburetor is removably attached. The adjustable engine lifting tool has many different parts including several parts which are movable relative to each other. Furthermore, the lifting device has no safety apparatus for connecting to the engine in the event the device should be disconnected from the engine or broken.